Accounting for Taste

The sizzling arrival of cast-iron plates of marinated steakhouse steak tips is often the most exciting part about them, so says Cook’s Country. In this version of Grilled Steakhouse Steak Tips, they replace the typical sickly sweet marinade culprits—ketchup, barbeque sauce, and cola—with a mixture of soy sauce, oil, dark brown sugar, and tomato paste for enhanced meaty flavor and maximum char. WOW, great results!

Typically, if you can even find it (hello Costco), flap meat is sold as whole steaks, strips, and pieces. For even pieces, buy a whole steak of uniform size and cut it up yourself. We’ve only found it at Costco sold in thick strips, but that is perfect for this method. And instead of cutting it down into 2 1/2-inch pieces we kept them to about 5 inch lengths.

This is not your grandma’s steak and potatoes recipe. The marinade has a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar but otherwise is a great companion to beefy flap meat. If you get the opportunity, try to marinate for the total 24 hours, but a minimum of 2 hours will provide enough flavor. If, like us, you are medium-rare fans, take the steaks off when they reach 125-130° (they may have to come off at separate times). Cover with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

As an accompaniment, we made these fabulous potatoes which The Hubs found in a video on Tik Tok, thus we named them “Tik Tok Taters”. We made a major alteration to the directions however because after initially boiling the potatoes for the 20-25 minutes as indicated, they were beyond fork tender and falling apart. So we shortened the boiling time in this phase to 12-15 minutes, which is shown in the directions below.

In this photo op, I inadvertently staged “light” brown sugar when the recipe calls for “dark” brown.

Grilled Steakhouse Steak Tips

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1 hr + marinating time
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

⅓ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. paprika
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 (2 1/2-pound) beef flap meat

Directions

Whisk soy sauce, oil, sugar, garlic, tomato paste, paprika, pepper, and cayenne together in bowl until sugar dissolves; transfer to zipper-lock bag.
Pat beef dry with paper towels. Prick beef all over with fork and cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces. Add meat to bag with soy mixture and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes.
Clean and oil cooking grate. Cook beef (covered if using gas) until charred and registers 125 to 130 degrees (for medium-rare), 7 to 8 minutes.
Transfer meat to platter, tent loosely with foil, and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Tik Tok Taters

Tik Tok Taters

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1 hr, 10 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

5 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in half lengthwise, then cut each piece into 3 chunks
1/4 cup Kosher salt + 1 Tbsp., divided
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Directions

Boil peeled russet potatoes in water with 1/4 cup salt and the baking soda for 12-15 minutes, until just barely fork tender on the outer edges.
Drain potatoes and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon each salt and rosemary.
Preheat oven to 400° convection (or 425° regular) with empty roasting pan inside.
When hot, add more olive oil (about 1/4 cup) to coat the bottom, then add drained and seasoned potatoes.
Return pan to oven and roast 35-40 minutes, carefully turning potatoes every 10-12 minutes.

http://www.lynnandruss.com